Ministry of Cooperation
Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Shri Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of Krishak Bharti Cooperative Limited  Hazira’s Bio-ethanol project and addressed the co-operative conference in Surat today
KRIBHCO's bio-ethanol project is a big leap in the direction of cooperative sector, environmental improvement, doubling of farmers' income, increasing of India's foreign exchange reserves and combating global warming challenge which are significant part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s multidimensional campaign
With this project, a bio-ethanol plant with a daily capacity of 2.5 lakh liters will be set up at Hazira, which will produce 825 crore liters of bio-fuel and will also provide a good market for 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of maize or alternative produce
Maize is main crop in about nine districts of Gujarat and apart from this maize can be grown in ten districts of the State and farmers can benefit through this plant
KRIBHCO's bio-ethanol project will also provide raw material for high protein animal feed, fisheries and poultry, which will also benefit these sectors immensely
As a result of petroleum policy of Shri Modi, ethanol plants are being set up in the country today
Immense potential is available for India in this field, like KRIBHCO other cooperative units should also work in this direction, this will increase farmers’ income as well as strengthen India's foreign exchange reserves.
India already has achieved target of 10% blending set by Shri Modi before November, 2022, five months before the deadline and hence target of 20% ethanol blending by 2030 has been preponed to 2025
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also taken many policy decisions to achieve 20% blending by 2025-26.
GST has been reduced from 18% to 5%, Government of India will pay 50% interest for a period of 6 years to those setting up ethanol plants under attractive interest subvention scheme
Many plants are being set up across the country and the production of ethanol is going to change the economy of the petroleum sector of the country in the coming days, which will also save about Rs. 1,00,000 crore in foreign exchange reserves
Under the leadership of Shri Modi, Ministry of Cooperation has taken many new steps, which include computerization of PACS, making multi-dimensional PACS and giving FPO status to PACS
Organizations like KRIBHCO, IFFCO and Amul are in the process of building an export house of Multi State Cooperative Society, which will export farmers’ produce on cooperative basis and profits will go directly into farmers’ bank accounts
Government is also creating a multi-state cooperative society for seed promotion and a multi-state cooperative society for certification and marketing of organic products
Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Shri Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of Kribhco Hazira, a bio-ethanol project of Krishak Bharti Cooperative Limited in Surat, Gujarat, today. Several dignitaries including Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Patel and Minister of State for Railways, Smt. Darshana Jardosh were present on the occasion.
In his address, Shri Amit Shah said KRIBHCO's bio-ethanol project is a big leap in the direction of cooperative sector, environmental improvement, doubling of farmers' income, increasing of India's foreign exchange reserves and combating the challenge of global warming which are significant part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s multidimensional campaign. With this project, a bio-ethanol plant with a daily capacity of 2.5 lakh liters will be set up at Hazira, which will produce 825 crore liters of bio-fuel, this will also provide a good market for 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of maize or alternative produce. Maize is the main crop in about nine districts of Gujarat and in addition ten districts of the State can grow maize and farmers can be greatly benefited through this plant. At the same time, by transforming bad maize into fuel it will also benefit the national economy and foreign exchange reserves and this plant will infuse new hope into the lives of farmers.
The Union Cooperation Minister said the bio-ethanol project of KRIBHCO will also provide raw material for high protein animal feed, fisheries and poultry, which will benefit these sectors also. He said ethanol plants are being set up in the country as a result of the petroleum policy of Shri Modi. India used to import 172 MMT of crude oil in 2011-12 and 212 MMT of crude oil in 2021-22. Our dependence on crude oil has increased from 83 to 88 percent because we have to understand the importance of crude oil in the energy sector for growth. Today, 9 lakh crore rupees of our country's foreign exchange is spent on the import of crude oil and fossil fuel is a good option to avoid this and efforts are being made all over the world. No other country has made an organized effort as in India under the ethanol policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the U.S. produces 55 percent, Brazil 27 percent while India produces only 3 percent of ethanol. He said immense potential is available for India in this sector, like KRIBHCO other cooperative units should also work in this direction, this will increase the income of farmers as well as strengthen India's foreign exchange reserves.
Shri Amit Shah said the country has already achieved the target of 10% blending set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before November 2022 which is five months before the deadline and hence the target of 20% ethanol blending by 2030 has been preponed to 2025. Shri Modi has also taken several policy decisions to achieve 20% blending by 2025-26. GST has been reduced from 18% to 5% and Government of India will pay 50% interest for a period of 6 years to those setting up ethanol factories under the attractive interest subvention scheme. Many plants are being set up across the country and ethanol production is going to change economy of the country's petroleum sector in the coming days, due to which India's foreign exchange reserves will also save about Rs. 1,00,000 crore.
Shri Amit Shah said KRIBHCO is a well-known and multidimensional organization. KRIBHCO is a large and successful cooperative project which is known worldwide as the model of cooperative of the country. He said the word Krishak Bharti has been used in the full form of KRIBHCO because KRIBHCO represents the farmers of India. He said 2 mega fertilizer plants have been installed at Hazira and Shahjahanpur which produce about 34 lakh metric tonnes of urea per year, which is 10% of the total sales of India. Along with this, KRIBHCO has created a special purpose vehicle which will try to increase the income of the farmers by processing and exporting the fruits and vegetables of the farmers. The Union Cooperation Minister said more KRIBHCO accelerates its pace in the agriculture sector, especially in vegetable and fruit processing, more farmers of will benefit. Along with this, 12 state-of-the-art processing units have been established to preserve and promote good seeds, which certifies 1.90 lakh quintals of seeds.
The Union Cooperation Minister said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Cooperation has taken many new steps, which include computerization of PACS, making multi-functional PACS and giving FPO status to PACS. Along with this, organizations like KRIBHCO, IFFCO and Amul are building an export house of Multi State Cooperative Society, which will export farmers’ produce on cooperative basis and the profits will go directly to the bank account of the farmer. Apart from this, a multi-state cooperative society is also being formed for seed promotion and a multi-state cooperative society is also being formed for certification and marketing of organic products, in which we will also get the cooperation of KRIBHCO.